• The Pull of the Stars

  • By: Emma Donoghue
  • Narrated by: Emma Lowe
  • Length: 9 hrs and 5 mins
  • 4.6 out of 5 stars (34 ratings)

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The Pull of the Stars  By  cover art

The Pull of the Stars

By: Emma Donoghue
Narrated by: Emma Lowe
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Publisher's summary

Three days in a maternity ward at the height of the Great Flu. The Pull of the Stars is the Sunday Times best seller from the acclaimed author of The Wonder and Room.

The old world dying on its feet, a new one struggling to be born....

Dublin, 1918. In a country doubly ravaged by war and disease, Nurse Julia Power works at an understaffed hospital in the city centre, where expectant mothers who have come down with an unfamiliar flu are quarantined together. Into Julia's regimented world step two outsiders: Doctor Kathleen Lynn, on the run from the police, and a young volunteer helper, Bridie Sweeney.

In the darkness and intensity of this tiny ward, over the course of three days, these women change each other’s lives in unexpected ways. They lose patients to this baffling pandemic, but they also shepherd new life into a fearful world. With tireless tenderness and humanity, carers and mothers alike somehow do their impossible work.

In The Pull of the Stars, Emma Donoghue tells an unforgettable and deeply moving story of love and loss.

Shortlisted for the An Post Irish Book Awards - Eason Novel of the Year

The Telegraph's 'Best Novels of 2020'

Guardian's 'Brilliant Books to Transport You This summer', 'Best Books of 2020'

Cosmopolitan's 'Best Books to Read this summer'

Stylist's 'Best summer Reads

©2020 Emma Donoghue (P)2020 Macmillan Publishers International Limited

Critic reviews

"Stunning." (Emily St. John Mandel)

"Narrator Emma Lowe's layered characterizations include distinct Irish accents and diction that illuminate the backgrounds of the protagonists and hospital staff. The pregnant women in their care are depicted with particular sensitivity; their pain, joy, and loss are all keenly felt. As circumstances around the women intensify, so will listeners' investment in the outcomes of their stories. (AudioFile)

"An immersive, unforgettable fever-dream of a novel." (The Times)

What listeners say about The Pull of the Stars

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Engrossing and powerful

I’ve never listened to anything by this author but what a rollercoater of hope, joy and despair. The fierceness of Julia and her determination to save her patients made me feel like shouting out for the medical community. It seems like we’ve forgotten already how hard they fought to keep us all alive during our pandemic.

The combination of the two horsemen of war and influenza in 1918 makes our experience of Covid in 2020 seem almost placid. Except of course to the people who lost loved ones. That we’re even questioning the intent of our doctors, nurses, and public health officials makes me rage.

Some people would find the medical descriptions here unsettling but I was mesmerized through out the entire book. And I loved the drama of the personal tragedies and triumphs of the hospital.

Emma Lowe was amazing with the delivery of the story

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Ok

It felt a bit like a half told story and what was told happened in a bit of a rush.

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